Department of Energy Celebrates Manufacturing Day

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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) joins President Trump and communities across the nation in celebrating Manufacturing Day, a day to highlight modern manufacturing, recognize skilled workers, and inspire the next generation of innovative manufacturers.

“I salute the more than 12 million men and women on the factory floors across this great nation for their hard work and ingenuity in advancing American manufacturing,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. “DOE works closely with leaders in manufacturing to develop next generation technologies that will boost American job growth and strengthen domestic industries.”

As part of this national celebration, manufacturers across the country will open the doors of their facilities to give the general public, students, and job seekers an “inside look” at modern manufacturing. Community and technical colleges will host events to showcase their facilities and course offerings that are preparing the future manufacturing workforce. Find a Manufacturing Day event in your area here.

The Department and the Trump Administration are embracing innovation over regulation, leveraging federal research and development (R&D) investments to help foster American innovation. Through early-stage R&D, DOE supports the private sector in developing and commercializing advanced energy and manufacturing technologies. These technologies help U.S. businesses, innovators, and entrepreneurs gain the competitive edge they need to excel in today’s global economy.

DOE has a series of programs and competitions focused on manufacturing competitiveness, such as the Sustainability in Manufacturing Partnership announced last April by DOE and the National Association of Manufacturers. In the coming weeks, the Partnership’s Individuals Taking Energy Action in Manufacturing (ITEAM) will recognize individual workers for improving energy productivity at their manufacturing facilities. The prize (up to $5,000 per worker, and up to $75,000 total) is focused on rewarding employees on plant floors all around the country who are strengthening their company’s competitiveness and driving cost savings in the process.

The prize is coordinated through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Better Plants Initiative, a voluntary program in which leading manufacturers pledge to improve their energy efficiency. To date, more than 200 organizations have joined Better Plants, including 14 companies in the Fortune 100, representing workers at thousands of industrial facilities across all 50 states.

DOE is also conducting research and development in additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. Additive manufacturing creates components directly from a computer model by depositing material only where it's needed -- fabricating parts from the bottom-up, layer-by-layer. Highly complex components can be fabricated faster while consuming less material and using less energy. DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is also collaborating with equipment manufacturers and end users to advance state-of-the-art technologies and revolutionize the way products are designed and built using additive manufacturing technology, with numerous application areas such as aerospace, robotics, automotive, biomedical and more.

In addition, the Department’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) has loaned $8 billion to projects under its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program that have supported the production of more than 4 million fuel-efficient cars and more than 35,000 direct jobs across eight states.